Deep within Mount Myoboku, mist hung thick in the air, and the sound of frogs croaking rose and fell in waves.
Arisu received the message sent by the messenger toad.
Two pieces of news heavy enough to shake the entire ninja world crashed straight into his ears.
Senju Mio was dead.
Uchiha Katsu, dressed in white, had crossed the river and mobilized the full strength of the Uchiha clan to attack the Senju.
With the two messages stacked together, even Arisu, who had long been accustomed to storms and turmoil, felt his fingertips twitch slightly.
Arisu raised his eyes and looked toward the crystal ball floating beside him. Immortal power quietly surged around his body as he gave a low shout, "Immortal Art: Telescope Technique!"
The crystal ball instantly lit up with a pearly white glow, and the scene spread open all at once...
Inside the mourning hall of the Senju clan, a pitch-black coffin rested quietly. Senju Mio lay within it, eyes closed, face deathly pale, completely devoid of life. She was already a thoroughly dead woman.
Arisu's brows furrowed slightly. With a thought, the scene switched rapidly.
Inside the crystal ball, the sequence of events unfolded like flowing water.
Uchiha Katsu had somehow discovered the ultimate secret of the Mangekyo Sharingan. In order to climb to the peak of even greater power, he did not hesitate to strike down Senju Mio with ruthless force.
'For the sake of power, able to go this far… he's a truly ruthless man who stops at nothing.'
Arisu silently evaluated in his heart.
The scene flashed again, revealing a completely different sight.
Uchiha Katsu wore pure white mourning clothes. He personally led the elite forces of the Uchiha, crossing the river like a sharp blade in a sudden assault, charging straight toward the Senju clan's territories along the north and south banks of the Naga River. War instantly ignited along the borders of the two clans.
Watching the scene of slaughter inside the crystal ball, Arisu murmured softly to himself, "How strange."
"I originally thought the two of them would have a final battle that shook the heavens and earth. I never expected it to end like this."
"Senju Mio was far too careless, and her strength was worrying. At this level, she's probably not even as strong as Senju Shuichi."
At that moment, Arisu suddenly understood.
No wonder in the original story, Black Zetsu could only find a breakthrough in Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama.
The strength, intellect, and vision of those two had long been the very peak among all the reincarnations of Ashura and Indra throughout history. No one could match them.
"I'll personally make a trip regarding this matter."
The moment those words fell, the immortal light around Arisu withdrew, and his figure disappeared from Mount Myoboku.
In the blink of an eye, he had already stepped into the mourning hall of the Uchiha clan.
Inside the coffin, Senju Mio's corpse lay quietly. Her life force had completely vanished, and the aura of his soul was so faint it was nearly dispersed.
"She's actually really dead."
A trace of surprise flickered across Arisu's eyes, so faint it was almost impossible to notice.
He didn't hesitate. Raising his hand, he waved lightly. Gentle immortal power silently wrapped around Senju Mio's body and her remaining soul, preserving them intact.
Immediately afterward, he used immortal techniques to refine a fake corpse identical to Mio, flawless in every detail, and steadily placed it back into the coffin, covering up every trace.
Inside the mourning hall, the fake corpse formed from immortal power lay peacefully in the coffin.
"What should I do now…"
Arisu stood to the side with his hands behind his back. His brows tightened even further as thoughts surged endlessly in his mind.
After killing Senju Mio, Uchiha Katsu had already become the strongest combat power in the ninja world, practically dominating everything alone.
Arisu thought to himself. 'With such an aggressive stance, could this man truly harden his heart and completely wipe out the Senju clan?'
The reincarnation of Indra could only truly be countered by the reincarnation of Ashura. The two restrained and opposed each other.
But the current situation had already lost its balance. Senju Mio was dead, and the Senju clan had lost its leader.
How could they possibly withstand the frenzied assault of the Uchiha elites under Uchiha Katsu?
If the Senju clan truly failed to hold out and were completely exterminated by Uchiha Katsu, how would the situation afterward even be handled?
What about the thousand-year agreement?
In this round of the struggle between the reincarnations of Ashura and Indra, Uchiha Katsu of Indra's lineage had already won.
But this was not simply a matter of victory or defeat in a single lifetime.
It was a destined contest that had continued for a thousand years.
What Uchiha Katsu was doing now was completely like draining the pond to catch the fish.
This was not competing for victory at all. He clearly wanted to flip the entire chessboard that had continued for a thousand years and destroy this ancient rule of balance.
Arisu's brows knitted tightly as he pondered.
"If the Senju clan is exterminated… then where will the reincarnation power of Ashura go?", Arisu murmured softly.
Then he reconsidered, and the tension in his heart relaxed slightly.
"Well… in the original story there was Naruto as an example. That reincarnation power will probably flow to the Uzumaki clan, who share the same bloodline."
Even so, the unease in his heart still did not disappear.
"But if the Senju are exterminated, the impact will be enormous."
Arisu frowned again. The Senju were one of the top great clans in the ninja world and also a key pillar maintaining its balance.
If they collapsed like this, the entire order of the ninja world would completely crumble, and the flames of war would only grow more and more intense.
After pondering for a while, Arisu sighed softly. The aura around him suddenly became solemn.
"Sigh… it's time to step in and set things right…"
As the judge of order in the ninja world, Arisu ultimately could not simply sit by and watch.
After all, he was the judge that Indra and Ashura had knelt and begged for.
At this moment, two clear choices lay before Arisu, yet both carried fatal flaws.
The first choice was to appear personally and directly kill Uchiha Katsu, the one who had started the disaster, ending this catastrophe with thunderous methods.
But stepping into the conflict so directly would already touch the bottom line of the rules he followed as the judge.
The last time he stepped in to confront Indra and Ashura, he had faced both reincarnations at the same time, which was understandable.
But this time it would only be against Uchiha Katsu alone. Acting like that would clearly violate the rules.
The second choice was to use his authority and become an invisible hand stirring the situation.
Just like when he once stepped in to protect the Tailed Beasts, secretly pushing the major ninja clans to abandon their past grudges and form a coalition army against the Uchiha.
With a united front of the entire world, they could restrain the expansion and ambition of the Uchiha clan.
But this method carried far too many uncertainties afterward and could easily end badly.
Once the coalition army grew too powerful, if the balance wasn't handled carefully, it might cause the Uchiha clan, already standing at the center of the storm, to repeat the fate of the Senju and suffer the tragic end of extermination. That was absolutely not a result he wanted to see.
Both choices had flaws that could not be avoided.
Arisu fell into a long silence.
Arisu thought and thought and thought again for a very long time…
After a long while, Arisu suddenly lifted his eyes, and a flash of understanding passed through them.
"Sigh… the person who tied the bell must untie it. Since that's the case, then I can only choose the third option…"
The moment those words fell, Arisu slowly closed his eyes. When he opened them again, the Rinnegan appeared.
Arisu had made his decision.
Uchiha Katsu was still young now. It would be better to let the next generation's reincarnation of Ashura reincarnate ahead of time.
"Reincarnation of Indra… you'll have to bear with it. You'll have to deal with another generation of Ashura's reincarnation all by yourself."
"Uchiha Katsu… it's not that I, Arisu, want to harm you. It's this chaotic era that has harmed you!"